Chapter 5: The Locked Drawer
Amanda smiled.
That frightened me more than if she had yelled.
“What have you got there, Ethan?””
I closed my fist around the brass key.
“Nothing.””
Her eyes moved toward the open envelope.
Dad’s handwriting was visible.
“Give it to me.””
Lily jumped to her feet.
“Daddy said it’s Ethan’s.””
Amanda ignored her.
“Ethan.””
She stepped into the room.
I backed toward my bed.
“Give me the key.””
“No.””
It was the first time I had said that to her.
My voice shook.
But I said it.
Amanda’s face changed.
“Excuse me?””
“Dad said Marcus gets it.””
She moved faster.
Her hand shot toward mine.
Lily screamed.
“Don’t!””
She stepped between us.
Amanda stopped just before grabbing her.
“Move, Lily.””
“No.””
“I said move.””
“You’re scaring him!””
Amanda’s face twisted.
“I am trying to protect this family!””
“From Daddy?””
The question stopped her.
Footsteps thundered upstairs.
Marcus appeared in the doorway.
“What’s happening?””
I ran around Lily and shoved the key into his hand.
“Dad said this is for you.””
Amanda’s shoulders dropped.
Marcus looked at the key.
Then the envelope.
“Where did you find it?””
“Under my bed.””
Amanda laughed nervously.
“This is becoming ridiculous. Daniel is playing some kind of paranoid game.””
Marcus unfolded Dad’s note.
His eyes moved across the two sentences.
Then he looked toward the hallway.
“Daniel’s office.””
Amanda stepped in front of him.
“No.””
Marcus held up one hand.
“Don’t make this worse.””
“You are not searching my house.””
“It’s Daniel’s house too.””
“You need a warrant.””
“I’m not law enforcement.””
“Exactly.””
Marcus took out his phone.
“Then I’ll ask Daniel.””
Amanda’s voice rose.
“He isn’t here!””
Marcus looked at her.
“That seems to be the reason he prepared all this.””
He walked downstairs.
We followed.
Amanda followed us.
So did Rachel, who was still standing near the front door.
Dad’s office was at the end of the downstairs hallway.
I was rarely allowed inside.
Dad kept work papers there and always said some documents were confidential.
Marcus opened the door.
Amanda stayed behind him.
The room smelled like coffee and Dad’s cedarwood aftershave.
His desk sat beside the window.
Marcus walked to a filing cabinet.
The brass key didn’t fit.
Then he tried the desk drawers.
Nothing.
Amanda folded her arms.
“Happy?””
Marcus ignored her.
I looked around.
Something bothered me.
Dad had hidden the key for me.
That meant he expected me to know something.
Then I remembered.
“His toolbox.””
Marcus turned.
“What?””
“Dad keeps important stuff in his old toolbox.””
Amanda looked at me sharply.
“How do you know?””
“He showed me.””
In the closet was a heavy red metal toolbox.
Dad didn’t use it for tools anymore.
He said it belonged to Grandpa.
Marcus knelt.
There was a tiny lock beneath the handle.
The key slid inside.
Click.
Amanda stepped backward.
Marcus opened the lid.
No tools.
Inside were folders.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
Receipts.
And a small notebook.
Rachel whispered, “Oh my God.””
Marcus lifted the first folder.
Amanda reached for it.
“No.””
Marcus pulled it away.
“Don’t touch anything.””
“This is private!””
Dad’s voice suddenly came from Marcus’s phone.
“Marcus?””
“I found the box.””
Amanda shut her eyes.
Dad exhaled.
“Read the blue folder first.””
Marcus found it.
He opened the cover.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”” Rachel asked.
Marcus didn’t answer.
Amanda did.
“Nothing.””
Marcus pulled out several printed bank statements.
Yellow marks circled dozens of transactions.
Restaurants.
Hotels.
Luxury stores.
Cash withdrawals.
Then I saw a name handwritten beside several charges.
M. HARRIS.
Dad said, “Tell me if those are the same transactions I photographed.””
“They are,” Marcus replied.
Rachel looked at Amanda.
“Who is M. Harris?””
Amanda said nothing.
“Amanda?””
“Nobody.””
Marcus turned another page.
There was a photograph.
Amanda sitting at an outdoor restaurant.
A man sat across from her.
He had his hand over hers.
Rachel’s mouth fell open.
“Who is that?””
Amanda ripped the photograph from Marcus’s hand.
I had never seen her move so fast.
She tore it in half.
Then again.
Marcus stared at her.
“That was evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
Her voice cracked.
Dad answered.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.””
Amanda looked at the phone.
“You had someone following me?””
“No.””
“Then where did you get that?””
Dad hesitated.
“Ethan’s school fundraiser.””
My stomach tightened.
Dad continued.
“One of the parents took photos at the restaurant next door. You happened to be in the background.””
Amanda’s lips parted.
“The first picture could have meant anything.””
Marcus picked up another photograph.
“And the others?””
Amanda stopped breathing.
There were four more.
Different days.
Same man.
In one, Amanda was getting into his car.
In another, he had his arm around her waist.
Rachel sat down heavily.
“You told me you barely knew him.””
Dad spoke.
“So you know him too?””
Rachel covered her mouth.
Amanda turned toward her.
“Don’t.””
But Rachel was already crying.
“He’s the financial adviser.””
Marcus went still.
“What financial adviser?””
“The one Amanda said was helping her move money without triggering questions.””
Amanda shouted, “Rachel!””
Dad said nothing for several seconds.
Then his voice came low and controlled.
“Marcus, look at the last page.””
Marcus flipped through the folder.
At the back was a photocopy of a document.
He read it.
Then read it again.
“What?”” Amanda demanded.
Marcus looked at her.
“This is a beneficiary-change request.””
Dad said, “Look at the signature.””
Marcus did.
His expression hardened.
Amanda backed away.
Rachel whispered, “What does it say?””
Marcus looked toward the phone.
“Daniel, this document appears to remove Ethan from one of the beneficiary accounts.””
I didn’t understand what that meant.
But then Marcus said something I did understand.
“And the signature at the bottom is supposed to be yours.””
May you like
Dad’s answer came immediately.
“It isn’t.””
